Smith Family Name Institution Instructor Course Date Introduction The Smith family has four family members who are addressing issues in the family

Smith Family
Name
Institution
Instructor
Course
Date
Introduction
The Smith family has four family members who are addressing issues in the family. John who is the head of the family is having a drinking problem and is now facing a legal issue as he had been recently arrested for driving while intoxicated. He has been reluctant to seek medical treatment for his drinking problem until after he was arrested that he decided to seek help. His wife Margaret has depression issues due to the drinking habits of her husband John and the problems it has caused to the family. Their daughter Tina feels neglected and is always angry with her mother. Robert is their son who is encouraging his father’s drinking habit by sometimes covering for him.
Treatment Issues Facing the Smith Family
The smith family is facing treatment issues in their recovery, which include bad relationship between the family members. Margaret is always angry with John because of the drinking problem he has and the problems it has caused to the family. Margaret is also depressed and is currently seeing a counselor to help her in overcoming the depression. Margaret was reluctant to participate in John’s treatment because she thought it was John’s personal problem. She believes that John should just quit drinking alcohol and things will turn out better. She does not understand John as a patient suffering from substance use disorder (O’Connor & Ammen, 2012).
Robert who is their son is more close to his father than his mother. He has even covered for his father a number of times encouraging him with this habit. Their daughter Tina has also bad relationships with most of her family members. She is angry with her mother and gets into verbal confrontations with her brother. This bad relationship between the family members has led to separation and segregation in the family and has resulted to lack of unity in addressing the challenges facing the family. There is no trust between the family members and members cannot share their emotions with each other (Glick, Rait, Heru, & Ascher, 2015).

The Smith family is undergoing communication problems. During the treatment process, the family has a greater responsibility of supporting other family members, as the family is the closest relationship individuals can have (Glick et al., 2015). John is reluctant to get treatment for his alcohol disorder and his willingness to receive treatment was due to trouble for driving while intoxicated. Margaret is also reluctant to attend group therapies and support John. She says they are of no help to John and sees no benefit to her, as she is not the one with the drinking problem.

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Due to the family problem, it has also affected Tina, who is their daughter. Tina has started to have some behavioral issues in school and at home. She has issues with her brother and her mother, engages in arguments to try to get her way, believes that she is not treated fairly, and feels neglected. This behavior may result to serious health problems, which may lead to alcohol abuse, as most members of the Smith family have been influenced to alcohol abuse by their parents (Glick et al., 2015). John’s father was an alcoholic who passed away five years ago. Margaret who is John’s wife used to drink too with John during the early times of their marriage. Margaret’s father was also an alcoholic who later recovered from the problem.

Treatment Interventions for the Smith Family
Treatment interventions may include family therapy where all he family members are involved in the treatment process instead of the family member suffering from the substance abuse problem (O’Connor & Ammen, 2012). John’s alcoholic problem has caused other problems to the rest of his family members. The family issues need to be addressed, as it is difficult for John to successfully recover with the issues still in his family. The family is important and plays a major role in helping family members recovering from substance use problems. Family therapy addresses the needs of all family members and the relationship between the family members. Addressing issues in the whole family can improve the effectiveness of the treatment process (O’Connor & Ammen, 2012).

Improvement of communication in the Smith family can be used as a treatment intervention (O’Connor ; Ammen, 2012). Most relationship issues in the Smith family have been because of poor communication between the family members. Tina does not understand much about her father’s alcohol problem. She also feels unwanted and unfairly treated by her mother. Better communication between the Smith family members will lead to better family relationships and ability to get along. Good communication will enable the Smith family to understand the challenges that they are going through and be ready to seek solutions to address the issues. Effective communication will improve trust between the family members and improve family bonding (O’Connor ; Ammen, 2012).

Individual counseling approach can also be used, which involves counseling sessions for individual members (O’Connor & Ammen, 2012). Some family members may not get along and may get rebellious during family therapy. Individual therapy can help a counselor in understanding each individual’s view. Individual therapies help people to air their opinions freely and comfortably (O’Connor & Ammen, 2012). Tina may have a difficult time in airing her grievances during a family therapy session compared to a one on one therapy with a counselor. Robert’s love for his father makes him cover for his father’s drinking habits but this love can be used in helping John in addressing his drinking problem.

Support services can be used as a treatment intervention for the Smith family. Support services may include faith-based support, self help support groups, and education strategies to promote a good relationship in the Smith family (O’Connor ; Ammen, 2012). This treatment approach can be used in the recovery process and after counseling sessions to provide support even after patients are out of health facilities (Glick et al., 2015). Many support groups have successfully helped individuals suffering from substance abuse like John and depressed individuals like Margaret.

Discharge/Treatment Plan for the Smith Family
Discharge plan is important as it provides support and assistance to patients and ensures ongoing health care support even after one has been discharged from the health facility (McWay, 2014). The Smith family needs a treatment plan for John from his Alcoholic problem, his wife Margaret who is suffering from depression, Tina who has anger management issues, and the relationship problems between the family members. There will be goals to be achieved by each family member, time duration, and a frequency of counseling sessions (McWay, 2014). With the family in a good relationship, it will give support to John in the recovery process. Including the family into therapy will help them address issues within the family (McWay, 2014). Implementation of strategies to help the family lead a positive lifestyle changes and steps in achieving these goals and a period. The discharge plan will include social planning, support groups, goals, and objectives, routines/rules for the Smith family to abide by, and prevention strategies to avoid a relapse for the Smith family.
Social planning
Social programs and services to improve family relationships to enable the Smith family accomplish their goals and objectives in addressing the issues they are undergoing. This process involves linking John and his family members at home. This is important, as family members are present with John when not in counseling sessions and provide the needed support while at home. This will help in providing treatment resources outside a health care setting and provide follow up health care services (Gorski, 2016).
Social planning for the Smith family will include John’s family members and other individuals involved in the treatment process and the treatment processes to improve the social and psychological functioning on the Smith family. This will help them cope with any family issues that may arise, which may include anxiety and depression for Margaret. Anger management lessons will help Tina in interacting with her mother and will lead to a good relationship between Margaret and her daughter Tina (Gorski, 2016).

Support groups
Support groups are associations of people with a same common issue who meet together, share their experiences, and provide emotional support to each other. This can include a group of ten people who meet weekly for an hour and interact with each other. A trained and experienced therapist can be a moderator of the meetings (Gorski, 2016). Support groups are important in overcoming alcohol dependence for John. Margaret is also suffering from anxiety, which can make her feel like she is alone and isolated. Support groups can help Margaret in discovering her fears and negative thought and how to overcome them.
Goals and objectives for the smith family
The goals and objectives of the treatment plan are for John to overcome his drinking problem, his wife Margaret to better understand John’s problem and support him in overcoming the problem. Margaret is also depressed and one objective of the treatment plan is to help her overcome anxiety and depression. Robert who is John’s son loves his father so much, sometimes covers for him, and thus encourages his father to continue with his drinking problem instead of helping him in overcoming the problem. Another goal of the treatment plan is to change the mindset of Robert to help his father address his drinking problem. The major objective will be to help the Smith family to get along and support their father in addressing his drinking problem (McWay, 2014).

Routines/rules for the Smith’s to try and abide by
Rules for the Smith’s family to abide by include understanding each other’s problems and looking for solutions as a family (Daley ; Douaihy, 2015). The Smith family members should also be open and support one another. The Smith family should attend counseling sessions together as most individual problems affect the other members of the family (Daley ; Douaihy, 2015). They should also stay united and address issues as they arise before they affect other family members. Communication channels should be always open as Tina is feeling neglected but no channels to communicate her worries with her mother (Daley ; Douaihy, 2015).

Each Smith family member must play his/her role in the family and John who is the head of the family should be a good role model to the rest of the family members. If one family member does not perform his/her duties accordingly, the family relationship will weaken. These roles are passed onto the children and this result to strong families (Daley ; Douaihy, 2015). The Smith family should remain committed and devoted to the well being of other family members. The only member concerned with the well-being of the other is Margaret who is concerned about John’s drinking problem but not concerned about the well-being of her children who also have issues.

Relapse prevention strategies for the Smith family
These strategies will help the Smith family not to fall back to the issues affecting them. John should avoid social habits and individuals who encourage him to drink. This will help him in fully recovering from his drinking problem (Daley & Douaihy, 2015). Margaret should encourage good social interactions to prevent depression. Support groups will provide moral support and be helpful to the Smith family in fully recovering from the issues affecting them. The Smith family needs to know that recovery process will be successful if they are united as a family. Family is the closest relationship one can have and plays a vital role in providing support in addressing issues (Daley & Douaihy, 2015). Emotional and physical triggers should be avoided and the Smith family should seek help immediately at a sign of a relapse. Good communication should also be maintained between the Smith family members and the therapist to enable monitoring of progress (Daley & Douaihy, 2015).